Engraved in stone
by namedlucie
Summary: They met as children playing on a river bank where social classes didn't matter. And then they met again when Regina was the Evil Queen.
1. Chapter 1

They were two little girls playing on a river bank. They were very different at the first sight. Different ages, different social classes, different personalities.

One was older, with her hair neatly tied, wearing pretty dresses, sitting and talking like a young lady.

The other one was young, still more of a child than a young lady, wearing a skirt and a blouse from raw fabrics with a red cape over her shoulders. Her hair was messy and she was skipping around with joy and excitement.

They had one thing in common. Both of them wanted to escape their homes even just for a moment.

Regina, the older one, wanted to get away from her mother, from her constant criticism, from her magic and forced piano lessons. Ruby, the little one, wanted to get out of her granny's sight and earshot and her overprotectivness.

The first time they met was at the very same spot they have been meeting at since then. Ruby was mad because Regina was sitting at her spot, swinging her legs in the water.

But they started to talk and so they bonded over their loneliness. They spent the time talking, chasing each other, throwing pebbles into the water.

Sometimes Regina brought some treats she stole in the kitchen because there was always enough food in their mansion. It was like Christmas for Ruby whose family was kind of struggling at times, not always having enough money, especially not to get some fancy food. She always thanked Regina excitedly, hugging her tightly. And it was enough for Regina to see the joy in the little girl's eyes, always surprised that food could make someone so happy.

Ruby had nothing to give her in return but she sometimes brought flowers she found on her way to the river, sometimes she stole a bit of milk for them to have it with the treats Regina brought.

And then, one day, the tragedy happened. At least it was a tragedy for them. Regina's mother decided that they have to move into a bigger mansion, with more rooms and bigger stables and estates. They were both very sad about that, it meant that they won't see each other again, probably never. They both cried a little bit, they were each other's only friend and it was difficult for them.

The day they met for the last time, Ruby gave Regina a gift. It was the smoothest pebble she could find and she engraved, or tried to, their initials into it. Tiny R+R were decorating the little stone and brought tears into Regina's eyes.

They hugged for the longest time and said their goodbyes.

That was many years ago. It became just a faded memory and if Regina didn't have the stone, she might even think that she imagined it all. She never had another friend. Her mother had her whole future planned for her and there was no space for friends. Not for real ones anyway. The only friends Regina had were chosen by her mother and were supposed to help her on her way up, to marry well and become wealthier.

That part was according to the plan. But only to the point when Regina banished her mother to Wonderland and became… the Evil Queen, as people called her.

Maybe it was true. After all, she wanted to capture Snow White, the beloved princess, kill her and everyone who dared to help her escape.

Regina was just headed to the court. One of Snow White's friends was there, waiting for her final word, or words if you like, 'off with her head' and then it was tea time.

She reached her throne and waved her hand to bring the prisoner in. She heard the girl struggling but everyone did that, so that was nothing new or interesting.

And then she finally looked up and met the dark eyes of the young woman standing in front of her. Both their faces showed surprise at first when the recognition hit them. And then there were other emotions. Joy, excitement, fear, disappointment.

Ruby made a step forward but stopped again, knowing she had no right to even speak.

Regina's eyes softened and maybe there were even some tears. She was confused and she didn't know what to do. In no way could she let the woman go, she would lose all the respect she managed to build among her peasants. But she could never kill this woman, her only friend.

She stood up quickly and turned to her guards.

"Bring her to my chambers. And take off her handcuffs."

"As you wish, your majesty." And there was fear in everyone's faces because it couldn't really be good for the poor girl. No one was really sure what would happen to her and what that actually meant. They were sure about one thing. It didn't mean mercy.

Regina rushed into her chambers. She was looking out of the window when there was a knock on her door a few minutes later.

"Yes!" She said sharply.

The guards entered the room, pushing Ruby inside. They left again with a bow when they saw Regina waving her hand.

The older woman was still standing by the window, she hasn't moved. What if this young woman wasn't her friend? What if it wasn't the little girl? After all, it's been years, ages, she grew up, changed.

She turned around slowly, with her eyes closed, holding her breath. She opened them when she was standing opposite to the other woman.

Ruby smiled at her. It was insecure and shy. She knew who this woman was, who she used to be.

Regina took it as a confirmation and made a few steps forward. She reached out her arm and opened her hand. And there it was, on her palm, the little stone with R+R.

"You kept it?" Ruby's voice was weak.

"You were the only friend I ever had." Regina whispered, sadness creeping into her tone.

"Regina… I… didn't know you were… that it was you…" The younger woman dropped her eyes, not being able to look at her.

"That I am the Evil Queen?" Regina laughed.

Ruby didn't say anything. She looked up again and watched the older woman for a while.

"I missed you." She reached out her hand like she wanted to caress her cheek but stopped and dropped it. "Sorry. I shouldn't… We're not the little girls anymore, you're the queen now and I'm… I'm still me."

"I missed you too," Regina whispered, her voice threatening to break. There were definitely tears in her eyes.

Ruby took that as permission and hugged her. Regina wrapped her arms around the tall brunette and rested her head on her shoulder. The embrace made her feel safe and… home? She hasn't felt like this since her mother killed Daniel.

The tears were now running down her face and wetting Ruby's neck. Her body was shivering as she was trying to suppress the sobs threatening to escape her throat.

"It's okay, you can cry, it'll make you feel better." Ruby was running her hand up and down Regina's back, trying to comfort her. She didn't know what was going to happen to her, she didn't know what this meant. She came here as a prisoner and the chances of her leaving this castle as a free woman weren't probably very high. But she found her lost friend. It didn't matter that she was the Evil Queen now. No. The Regina she knew was still in there, about that she was sure. She was hidden behind a thick mask but right now she was crying in her arms.

"What happened?" Ruby asked carefully, running her fingers through the long hair in a gentle and kind of intimate gesture.

"My mother. And Snow White." Regina snarled and wiped off her eyes. She took Ruby's hand and led her to the couch by the window.

"Is that why you are looking for her and everyone who helps her?" They sat down, Ruby was holding Regina's hand in her lap.

"Yes. What am I going to do with you?" There was panic in her eyes and the colour was drained out of her face.

The younger woman just shrugged. She expected to die just a half an hour ago.

"I can't kill you."

"Why not?" Ruby asked, daring her to tell the truth.

"Because you are, you were, my only friend!" Regina cried out, shocked that she would be even asked this.

"I still am, you know, if you want me to be." She smiled at her, squeezing her hand.

"Why would you want to be friends with the Evil Queen? I wanted to kill you. And I want to kill your… friend."

"But you didn't. And that's important. I can still see the Regina I knew. Besides, I'm not that innocent either anymore. I did some horrible things."

"What could you possibly do?" Regina laughed and the sadness disappeared from her eyes.

"I- am a wolf…" Ruby confessed silently.

" _You_ are _the_ wolf?" Her eyes widened with shock.

"Yes."

Regina nodded her understanding but didn't say anything. She was drawing circles on Ruby's hand, lost in her thoughts. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Let me stay." Ruby looked up at her, hopeful but also a little bit afraid.

"I can't! If anyone saw you…" Regina protested vigorously.

"For just a few days. We just found each other, don't make me lose you again…" Ruby was desperate, she could already feel the pain of saying goodbye. "Please," she whispered and cupped Regina's cheek, caressing it with her thumb.

Regina leaned into the touch subconsciously. This felt so good… it felt so good having Ruby around. When did anything felt so good? But was it right? Does she even have any right to feel well after all those things she's done?

"Alright," she whispered and captured the younger woman's hand and pulled it down from her face. "Alright, Red." It was a nick name she gave the little girl when they first met and Ruby didn't want to tell her her name.

She leaned forward slowly and pressed her lips to Ruby's forehead, still holding her hand in hers.


	2. Chapter 2

First, I want to thank you all who read this and liked it and asked for more. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing but this sounds so cheesy and I feel like all I'm able to write these days is sickeningly sweet and that's just not me. So if you like it, let me please know, any feedback is much appreciated!

* * *

„Are you hungry? Do you want to eat anything? Or drink?" Regina was pacing the room nervously.

"No, thank you, I'm good," Ruby smiled at her and got up. "Come on, just sit, we can talk." She pulled at the older woman's hand and led her back to the couch.

"Aren't you hurt? Did they hurt you? My guards are not very gentle. Which is good but if they hurt you…!"

"Regina! Look at me! What is going on?" The younger brunette forced the other woman to look at her, turning her head with her hand.

"Nothing. I don't know. I'm not like this." Regina's eyes were wide open, she was surprised with herself. When was the last time she felt so many emotions? That must have been a long time ago. She forbade herself to feel any form of affiliation, to feel anything but hate. Having feelings for someone, even when it's just a friend, it usually meant getting hurt, sooner or later. And that is something she couldn't afford. Any form of distraction, anything that could sidetrack her from her revenge on Snow White.

Yet somehow Ruby managed to knock down her walls just with coming back into her life. Did she really come back into her life? And what does all of this mean? Where is this going to? What should she do?

"Do you remember, when we were kids, how I used to lie down on your lap and you played with my hair?" Ruby asked and waited for Regina to nod. "Do it. I mean, if you want to, you can lie down on my lap and I can play with your hair and you can tell me what happened. I mean, if you want to, any part of this."

Regina smiled at her and nodded again, "I do. Let's… sit on the bed, there's more space."

"Is that appropriate for a queen to get in bed with someone who she wanted to kill not long ago?" Ruby grinned at her.

"It's more inappropriate to just talk than to fuck." Regina grinned back at her, starting to feel good again.

"Whoa! Have you done that?" She asked curiously as she climbed up on the huge bed.

"Fucked someone who I wanted to kill? Maybe. But that's not your business." Her voice was suddenly defensive.

"I'm not judging. I don't think I have any right to judge you or anyone. Okay, come on, lie down." Ruby propped herself against the headboard and the pillows and fixed her skirt.

Regina put her head down on her friend's lap. It felt so good! She felt like a little girl again when Ruby's fingers started to caress her hair but it also felt… safe. Like no one could hurt her, like this was her safe place where she didn't have to pretend, she could let her walls fall down.

"So tell me, what happened that made you this way?"

"I'm not sure if you want to hear anything bad about your little friend."

"She's not really my friend. She just… used me to hide away from you."

"And you hid her? You didn't know the queen was looking for her?" Regina asked.

"I didn't know the queen was you. If I did…" She didn't finish her answer.

"You would what?" The older woman demanded, turning her head to look at her.

"Can I take the pins out of your hair?" Ruby ignored Regina's question.

Regina tensed, not being used to people not doing what she wanted them to but then she relaxed again. "Alright."

Ruby started to remove all the pins that were holding Regina's hair in the complicated hairstyle, occasionally running her fingers through it.

And then Regina started to talk. About moving away and her mother having high ambitions for her, wanting her to learn magic and marry well, forcing her to study everything a lady could possibly need, punishing her for her lacking discipline.

About her secret escapes into the nature with her horse, her only friend. About the stable boy her mother hired and whom Regina fell in love with. He was the only piece of normal in her life, keeping her sane, encouraging her not to give up. Then she got to the part when she saved Snow White's life and her mother using the situation to her own advantage, giving her daughter to the old man.

Ruby stopped moving her fingers through the long hair, clenching them in fists, fighting the urge to punch something. Or someone.

Regina went on, talking about the wedding preparations and bonding with Snow and how Snow became her biggest enemy. Her voice broke when she talked about Cora crushing Daniel's heart and tears started to form in her eyes.

"Goodness heaven, I'm so sorry!" Ruby whispered and pulled Regina up on her chest, hugging her tightly.

"It still hurts, but mostly because my mother took an innocent boy's life because of that careless stupid girl." Regina's voice filled with anger.

"I know…" Ruby whispered into the brown hair, tangling her fingers in it.

"How could you know…"

"I… killed my own boyfriend…" It was hardly audible, listening to Regina's story made her feel even worse.

"You did what?" Regina sat up in shock.

"As I said, I'm the wolf," Ruby shrugged, "which I didn't know. Granny never told me, she just locked me up during wolf time and made me wear my red cape. I was never good at listening and I didn't follow her orders, always sneaking out of the house to meet up with Peter. So it happened. I turned and I killed him."

Regina leaned into the embrace again, not saying anything for a while

"How did you… not go all crazy?" She finally reacted to what she's just heard.

"I don't know. I just… tried to go on with my life, figuring out who I was and trying to accept that I was a wolf. But I spent most of the time hiding in the woods in my wolf form. I learned to control it and turn when I want to."

"I guess this makes me even more horrible… You were the one who killed the person you loved yet you are the one who managed to forgive yourself…"

"Well… it makes it easier that the only person I can be mad at is me. And I can't haunt myself so that kind of takes away all the fun. You focused on destroying everyone involved in destroying your happiness, which kept you from destroying yourself physically, yet you managed to destroy yourself mentally. Wow, I think I just overused the word 'destroy'", Ruby laughed lightly.

"Hmm…" Regina just hummed and it resonated through the other woman's chest.

"I never stopped thinking about you," Ruby confessed silently, tangling her fingers in the long hair again.

"I didn't either. That's why I kept that stone. Sometimes I thought I just dreamt it all but it reminded me that it was all real. And then there was Snow, she's your age and first I like her because of that, it reminded me on you but then I hated her for the very same reason. Among others."

They were sitting in silence, just enjoying each other's company. After a while Regina sat up to look at the younger woman. "I missed you." It was a whisper completed with a tender cheek caress.

"So did I," Ruby smiled at her as she caught her hand and pressed a little kiss into her palm.

"We're terrible people, aren't we," Regina chuckled, still looking into the dark brown eyes.

"Probably," Ruby smirked while she made her eyes turn yellow.

"Whoa! You know I have magic, don't you dare!" Regina raised her hand and leaned away.

"I'd never do anything to hurt you. You make me forget all the dead bodies and all the blood. It's like we're the two girls playing by the river again." Ruby smiled.

Regina's returned the smile but it was sad. "Help me forget too?" She asked weakly.

"If you want me to," Ruby cupped her cheek and caressed her lips with her thumb.

"Please," Regina whispered against the touch. "Stay…"

"Alright," the younger woman whispered too, still holding the eye contact. She leaned forward, her thumb still against the queen's lips. She stopped when they were just an inch apart, flicking between her eyes and lips. "Can I kiss the queen?"

"Not the queen. You may kiss Regina."

And so Ruby moved her hand into her hair, pulling her closer and connecting their lips in a soft kiss, just enjoying the touch at first until Regina opened her mouth slightly and started kissing her.


End file.
